Does Spike Lee Have a Kickstarter? Sho-Nuff You-Dig! Does He Have a Script? Unclear.

According to the Kickstarter video on Spike Lee's $1.25 million campaign page for "The Newest Hottest Spike Lee Joint," a few weeks before shooting the campaign video, one of Lee's students told him about the recent successes of the "Veronica Mars" and Zach Braff Kickstarter campaigns.

This student may not have explained to him, though, that it's fairly common for creators who launch crowdfunding campaigns to give donors a little bit of an idea behind what the new project is about. Lee, like other crowdfunders before him, reminds us that the system has changed. But for better or worse, it's still the norm to let investors know what kind of project they're investing in. The Kickstarter video and the text on the campaign page remind us of Lee's illustrious career in the film industry, but we don't get much of an idea of what's going on in the film except for the tagline "Human beings who are addicted to blood. Funny, sexy, and bloody (and it's not 'Blacula'))..."

Though we don't know anything about the film, Lee wants to reassure backers, "I promise you, my hand to God and my mother's grave every red cent, every wooden nickle, will go on the screen."

On the present state of the industry, Lee says this in his campaign description:

With the current climate in The Hollywood Studio System it's not an encouraging look for Independent Filmmakers. I'm not hating, just stating the facts. Super Heroes, Comic Books, 3D Special EFX, Blowing up the Planet Nine Times and Fly through the Air while Transforming is not my Thang. To me it's not just that these Films are being made but it seems like these are the only films getting made. To The Studios it seems like every Film must be a Home run on a Global scale, a Tent Pole Enterprise, able to spin off Sequel after Sequel after Sequel after Sequel after Sequel after Sequel.

I have a different vision of what Cinema can be, a different vision of what some under-served Audiences might want to see. That is why I am here on KICKSTARTER, to raise the Funds for The New Spike Lee Joint, to get this BAD BOY financed. Nothing in Life is Free and if you want something you got to pay for it. If you have liked any of my Films in the past, this is the price it costs to see another one (which can be less than the cost of one Movie Ticket). We feel the different levels on contributions make it affordable for everyone to GET DOWN FOR THE CAUSE.

An online screening of the film on its opening weekend can happen with a $20 pledge; big spenders can be an Associate Producer on a Spike Lee Joint for $5,000. Backers who give $10,000 will sit courtside with Lee for a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden. Lee's also getting rid of some old Nikes that he doesn't want anymore; $750 is the pricetag for one of Lee's old pairs of shoes.